


Spike the Sparkling

by MissSparkles



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Adoption, F/M, Gen, Kidnapping, Transformer Sparklings, Wheeljack's Inventions, cuteness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:40:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29009169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissSparkles/pseuds/MissSparkles
Summary: One of Wheeljack's inventions goes awry and Spike is caught in the middle of it. Now the Autobots have a sparkling to look after while they try to come up with a cute but what happens when the Decepticons become mixed up in it?Things are about to get interesting for Spike.
Comments: 21
Kudos: 51





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Old story from FanFiction, thought I'd post it here. I'll try to update it on FF soon if anyone recognises it. Will probably edit it a little here. 
> 
> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this chapter.

“Kids, they grow up so fast.”

Optimus looked curiously down at his friend, Sparkplug. This statement had come out of the blue and the Autobot leader was a little confused.

“What do you mean, Sparkplug?” he asked, causing the man to smile almost sadly.

“Spike,” he said softly before nodding in the direction of his son who was playing a ball game with Bumblebee.

He sighed heavily again.

“Seems only yesterday he was just learning to crawl and trying to eat my tools.”

Optimus blinked.

“Eat your tools?” he said surprise. “I didn’t think humans could do that?”

Sparkplug laughed.

“They can’t but babies sure as hell try. They’ll eat anything they can get their hands on, tools, coal, grass, mice, goldfish, stones and many more.”

“How....strange,” Optimus finally said after trying to process this information. “Is there a reason they try to consume such objects?”

“It’s their way of exploring the world around them,” Sparkplug explained. “They eat these things in order to find out if they're edible. Babies are the most curious things you’ll ever encounter, they have no knowledge of the world so they explore and experiment to find out.”

He shook his head fondly.

“They don’t just eat things, they touch things and find out they hurt like nettles. They run too fast and trip, getting grazed knees. Boy, I could sure go on about what they do,” he finished with a grin. “See, they ever do things by half, they decide on something and they go for it.”

“They sound incredible,” Optimus said softly. “I admit I have never had much to do with Sparklings, I was very young when I was made Prime and since then I’ve been running an army.”

He shook his head sadly.

“I’ve never had a chance to have a proper family.”

Sparkplug nodded sympathetically.

“I know what you mean. I lost Spike’s mother when he was still quite young, and it was hard for a long time, though of course worth it.”

He smiled sadly up at Optimus.

“Must be hard that you can’t plan a family with your wife.”

Optimus nodded, it was. Especially for her, when she saw other couples with Sparklings. They always told themselves that they would have children once the War was over but sometimes it seemed that day would never come.

“So,” he said abruptly, pulling his thoughts away from their depressing train of thought. “I take it you miss the time when Spike was a Sparkling.”

“Yeah,” Sparkplug said with a small smile. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s great seeing him growing up and seeing his accomplishments. But things were so simple when he was young, it seems like it’s gone by so quickly.”

He now chuckled.

“Ah well, I’ve got the memories and the photographs.”

He grinned up at Optimus as he suddenly withdrew a battered old wallet from an inside pocket. He took something out of it and then held it up for Optimus’s inspection.

“This was taken when he was three, he hates but I have very fond memories of that day.”

The picture was of a young, naked human child with a huge yellow hat on his head. Even with the flowery hat, Optimus could still see the unruly mop of hair that characterised Spike. The young boy seemed to be covered in a gritty substance and was happily tucking into an ice cream that was also dripping all over his hand.

“It’s a good picture,” Optimus said with a laugh. “Why does he hate it?”

“Because I used to always show people it when I talked about my son,” Sparkplug replied with a grin. “He claims it’s embarrassing. Not sure if it’s because he’s starker’s or because he’s wearing his aunty Em’s sun hat.”

Optimus chuckled.

“I can understand that part. Ratchet always likes to bring up what certain Autobots were like when they were either Younglings or Sparklings. He knew the twins when they were Sparklings.”

Sparkplug did a mock wince.

“Ouch,” he said, making Optimus laugh out loud.

“Indeed,” the Autobot leader said, optics twinkling. “It’s his favourite method of blackmail, bringing up incidents they’d rather not hear about. Like cuddling up to a Decepticon prisoner and telling him they loved him.”

Sparkplug almost fell over laughing.

“T-they really said that?” he asked, tears flowing from his eyes at the thought that the two biggest Decepticon haters would say something like that.

“They did,” Optimus assured him. “And what’s worse, it’s on tape, which they’ve never managed to find and destroy.”

“Now, what I wouldn’t give to see that,” Sparkplug mused, he’d been on the receiving end of quite a few of the twins pranks.

Optimus’s optics twinkled again.

“It is certainly a sight. The Decepticon in question was quite bemused but thankfully for us, he was more amused than angry. He allowed them to hug and kiss him before we got into his cell and took them away.”

“Is it a Con I’d know?” Sparkplug asked curiously.

“I’m afraid you’re going to have to watch the tape to see,” Optimus said with a sly wink, indicating that Sparkplug probably did know who it was.

“I’ll have to show you guys some footage of Spike sometime,” Sparkplug now said as he watched Spike clinging to Bumblebee’s back as the Minibot charged around the place.

“I’d like that,” Optimus said softly. “It’ll be interesting to see what Spike was like when he was a Sparkling.”

Later that day

Spike cheerfully whistled as he walked through the Ark’s corridors. It was the weekend and his dad was letting him stay with the Autobots which he was very pleased about. He hoped the Cons wouldn’t come and ruin it.

He grimaced, why did the Cons always have to pick on him? The last couple of times he’d gone with the Autobots into battle, he’d been caught, first by Laserbeak and then by Soundwave. Megatron and Starscream had taken great delight in gloating over him and waving him in front of Optimus.

Both those incidents had been utterly humiliating and he was still stung by them.

It wasn’t just getting captured that he hated, it was awful to see his friends get injured. Last time, Bumblebee had been badly banged up and hadn’t been able to have any fun with his human friend. Spike had of course, done his best to cheer his friend up but it still wasn’t the same when his best friend was hurt.

He was meant to be going out to watch a movie at a drive in later with his friend. However, at the moment, Bumblebee was out on patrol and wouldn’t be back for a while yet. So Spike was just wondering the base, idly looking for something to do.

He suddenly heard heavy stomping coming down one corridor and quickly rushed down another. He didn’t fancy running into the Dinobots at the moment. Not that he thought they’d hurt him but because they tended to take the mickey.

They had been the ones to save him from Megatron, who’d be telling Spike he was pathetic and exactly why this was. But then _they’d_ started to tell him how weak he was and how he should let the stronger bots handle things.

So now he was hurrying away from the sound of their footsteps before they spotted him. He was so intent on this, that he didn’t notice where he was until he’d run into a new room.

“Oh, hey there Spike,” Wheeljack said cheerfully, upon seeing Spike. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Hi Wheeljack,” Spike greeted back with a smile though he was slightly nervous.

He rarely came into Wheeljack’s lab alone, things had a nasty habit of exploding. But Wheeljack didn’t seem to be doing anything dangerous at the moment so Spike thought he’d be alright. He walked over to the bench the inventor was working at and asked.

“What’re you working on today, Wheeljack?”

“Eh, an invention for Optimus?” Wheeljack said proudly.

“Really, what is it?” Spike asked, now very curious.

“Yeah, see Optimus always worries about what we should do when we capture really dangerous Cons,” Wheeljack explained. “So I’m working on something that should solve all his problems.”

“Wow,” Spike said, though he noticed Wheeljack still hadn’t properly explained what the invention did.

Then again, he probably didn’t want to say until he was sure it was going to work.

Spike watched as Wheeljack tinkered with a device which thankfully, didn’t look like it was about to explode. However, it seemed the inventor had hit some sort of dead end because he kept taking wires out and then putting them back in.

Finally, with a slight huff, Wheeljack got up to go and get something off a shelf. Unfortunately, while he was reaching up, he accidently knocked something which blasted part of the table he’d been working on.

Spike jumped back in fright as Wheeljack’s invention suddenly began to shake, the blast had hit close to it and some debris had flown into it. Suddenly, the invention toppled and fell to the floor with a crash, making Spike leap back again.

“My invention,” Wheeljack cried out in horror as it lay broken.

Spike only just realised how hard his heart was beating a moment later when nothing happened. He was really surprised at this, he’d been sure it was going to explode. But no, it was just laying there harmlessly.

Later he would wonder why he had tempted fate by thinking like that.

“Aw, man, I can’t believe this,” Wheeljack groaned as he climbed down to survey the wreckage of his invention. “It was going so well and all.”

“I’m sorry Wheeljack,” Spike said sympathetically. “You never know, maybe you can still fix it.”

“You're right,” Wheeljack said, sounding more cheerful. “I can do this, thanks Spike.”

“You’re welcome....,” Spike started to say but stopped at the device started spluttering and shaking.

“Hey, it ain’t meant to do that,” Wheeljack said, rushing over but it was already too late.

It suddenly started glowing and then a beam of light shot out and hit Spike right in the chest, sending him flying backwards.

He hit something but he barely felt it, it felt like he was still falling down, down into blackness. He heard yelling but it came from a great distance. His insides were boiling but he was so wrapped up in cotton wool that he barely felt that either. And then his world truly went black.

He came awake very slowly, his limbs feeling like they were being weighed down by lead. His whole body felt tingly and he didn’t really like it. But he couldn’t move, or even open his eyes.

“Um guys,” he heard Wheeljack’s nervous voice from high above him.

“We’ve got a problem.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glad the first chapter was well received, here's another to for everyone. Suggestions are welcome for future chapters. 
> 
> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed.

Ratchet had known there was trouble the moment he’d gotten a call about something in Wheeljack’s lab exploding. And the bit that somebody had been injured, though not fatally, was even worse. These calls always ended in a bad processor ache for him.

He sighed, getting up from his desk and making his way into the main part of the Med Bay. Apparently, he wasn’t actually needed at the scene so he could easily prepare his Med Bay for whatever mess Wheeljack had created. It was probably something ridiuclous that could have easily been avoided. 

He checked his examination berth, yes, it was nice and sterile. No thanks to those blasted twins who were in here either to cause mischief or they’d gotten injured. If this kept up, he was showing everyone that tape of when they’d hugged _Shockwave._

Ratchet chuckled evilly, that had been the first and only they’d captured the faceless Guardian of Cybertron but what a memorable occasion that had been.

He had been quite young at the time, a fact the little demons from the Pit always denied. But he’d been horrified when he’d arrived to check up on Shockwave and found those twin terrors crawling all over him, trying to hug and kiss him. He honestly couldn’t move for several breems.

The purple Mech who was receiving this unexpected attention was just sitting there, not doing anything. He eventually noticed Ratchet and spoke in a well bred voice full of amusement.

“Are these..... _curious_ Sparklings yours?”

“Thankfully no,” Ratchet had said automatically. “Those two are little menaces.”

Shockwave had chuckled as he’d stroked the head of the little yellow one.

“Really? I’d never have known that.”

“You will,” Ratchet said darkly as he tried to coax Sunstreaker and Sideswipe to come to him. It seemed they’d slipped through the Energon bars, although how they’d done that without getting burned, he’d never know.

Of course, the little monsters ignored him, preferring to cuddle their new friend. Shockwave had chuckled again, and picking them both up, came over to the bars, set them down and then walked back to his berth.

Ratchet had quickly deactivated the bars to grab the two sparklings and then quickly reactivated them again. Shockwave didn’t move, just stared as Ratchet hoisted them into his arms. Both where grousing at being taking away but he didn’t pay that any mind.

“Thanks for watching them,” the young Medic said ruefully.

“Anytime,” the Decepticon had said smoothly as Ratchet had borne them away.

Ratchet chuckled evilly in the present. What he’d forgotten at the time was that there was a security camera pointing right into Shockwave’s cell. When he did remember, he took a copy of the tape, just to have proof that even Decepticons could show kindness.

Later, it had become a handy bit of blackmail for the twins who lived to drive him to an early grave.

But anyway, he had to focus on the here and now, he had a patient to prepare for. He did another quick check and was satisfied to see that everything was where it should be and nothing was missing. So he quickly sterilised his hands, and waited for the arrival of his newest patient.

There was presently a sound of approaching footsteps and he braced himself for a bit of shouting. But when they finally entered and he saw what they were carrying, his jaw dropped.

_“Whuuuuh?”_

Wheeljack’s lab.

Spike groaned softly as he came to. He was still lying on the ground and he could hear voices above him. He felt, quite frankly, awful. His limbs were heavy and he had a strange buzzing in his ears.

“Primus, Wheeljack, what have you done?”

“Ratchet’s going to kill you.”

“I can fix this, I can fix this!”

What were they talking about? Was it about him? But apart from aching all over, he felt fine, nothing bad had happened. He decided now would be a good time to open his eyes.

He did this and blinked up at Autobots surrounding him. They all fell silent as they realised he was awake. As well as Wheeljack, he could see Perceptor, Trailbreaker and Ironhide staring down at him.

For some reason, they all looked rather nervous.

 _“Hey, guys, what’s up?”_ Spike asked but for some reason all he could hear was a chirp.

“It’s alright little guy,” Ironhide said soothingly as he bent down to look at Spike. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

Spike frowned at this, what were they talking about? And that’s when he glanced down his body and squeaked in shock. He just couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

He had been transformer........into a _transformer!_

His body was a combination of pale blue and yellow with some white highlights. He was still pretty small but bigger than before. In transformer terms, he was now the size of a toddler or what he imagined would be toddler sized.

His limbs started to shake, why had this happened? How had it happened?

But that answer wasn’t hard as he glanced over and saw Wheeljack’s broken invention lying innocently a few feet away. Spike could’ve groaned at loud, he couldn’t believe this had happened. Instead, his bottom lips started to tremble as he suddenly felt like crying.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Ironhide said softly, reaching for Spike and scooping him into his arms.

Spike cuddled into the warm armour, not feeling happy about this at all. He didn’t like that his body had changed and he liked it even less that he felt so sad. His emotions just felt so raw, he couldn’t seem to control them.

“Let’s take him to Ratchet,” Trailbreaker suggested gently.

Ironhide nodded and all four Mechs turned and headed for the Med Bay. The whole way, Spike whimpered and clung to the red Mech carrying him. It seemed a long time until they reached the Med Bay, even though Spike knew it wasn’t that far away from the labs.

He saw Ratchet turn to sigh at then but then the Medic froze. His jaw dropped and he simply went.

_“Whuuuuh?”_

This made Spike giggle which came out as a chirp. Ratchet looked ready to crash at this but somehow he composed himself. In a shaky voice, he asked.

“What happened?”

“Well, ya see,” Wheeljack began as Ratchet’s expression became one of anger. “I was working on my latest invention when Spike came to visit.”

Ratchet’s optics seemed to bulge with anger.

“And well, these was an accident,” Wheeljack continued sheepishly. “And my invention fell and shot out a ray which hit Spike. And....well, did this to him.”

They all stared at the Sparkling with large turquoise optics. He was small so and delicate looking. All of them were still shocked at the sight of him, they hadn’t seen a Sparkling in so many Vorns.

“Think he remembers us?” Wheeljack said softly.

Remember them? Of course he did, just because his body had changed didn’t meant his memories had gone. He tried to tell them this but it only came out as chirping.

“What are we going to tell his creator?” Trailbreaker now said making Spike fume.

Why were they treating him like this? Like he couldn’t understand them, like he was just a _baby._

He started chirping loudly in indignation but this just made them awe.

“Aw, ah think the little guy’s hungry,” Ironhide said with a laugh, taking him to the examination berth.

As soon as he was on it, he pushed himself up so he was sitting Buddha style on it. Everyone grinned stupidly as him as Ratchet scanned him. He scowled at this, not happy at all.

“Well, everything seems okay,” Ratchet finally said. “He’s a normal, healthy Sparking for all intents and purposes. But he does need a drink, could you watch him while I make it up?”

“Sure Ratchet,” Ironhide said with a smile and Ratchet went over to a cabinet.

He had honestly never thought he’d have to use any of this but they really did have a Sparkling on their hands. Sparklings couldn’t consume pure Energon, their systems couldn’t handle it. So Ratchet had to create a special formula for him.

As he did this, the others watched the little Sparkling who was staring around the room as though he had never seen it before. In fact, Spike was just making use of his new optics which gave him a different perspective on things.

Unfortunately, this made him look as though he didn’t remember he used to be a human.

“What are we gonna tell Prime?” Ironhide asked after a while.

“Oh no,” Wheeljack groaned. “He won’t let me continue with my experiment when he hears about this.”

“What was it you were working on?” Perceptor asked curiously and Wheeljack immediately answered.

“A way to turn Decepticons into Sparkings.”

They all stared at him in shock, even Spike. Finally, Ironhide burst out.

“Why in Primus’s name would you want to do _that?”_

“So we wouldn’t have to kill them or imprison them,” Wheeljack said softly. “You know Prime almost dreads the day we win because then he’ll have to decide what to do with them all.”

“And I just thought....if they were Sparklings, they couldn’t hurt anyone. And maybe we could care for them and they’d grow up good.”

He gave a helpless shrug.

“Just an idea,” he mumbled as they all looked thoughtful.

Then Ironhide smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“And it ain’t a bad one,” he said softly. “Ah know Prime would love it if we could do that. Give em all a proper second chance. Ya never know, maybe that’s all some of em need.”

“Yeah,” Wheeljack said softly, but sounding much happier.

At that moment, Ratchet came back over holding a bottle filled with a purple substance.

“All done, now we just have to get him to eat.”

Spike grumbled slightly but he was curious as to what Energon tasted like. So he eagerly started clutching for the bottle with his little hands, making everyone chuckle.

“Heh, someone’s hungry,” Ironhide chuckled as Ratchet carefully held the bottle near Spike’s mouth.

The little Sparkling grabbed hold of it and started to suck eagerly. It tasted very sweet but in a good way and he was soon trying to suck harder. So much so that Ratchet started putting his back.

“He’ll need burping, otherwise he’ll have trapped air the way he’s sucking,” he said with a smile.

It did his Spark good to see another Sparkling again.

“Ah’ll do it,” Ironhide said, he seemed very taken with the little one.

“I think I’d better be heading off if you don’t need me,” Perceptor said with a small smile as Spike finished his drink.

“Me too,” Trailbreaker added as Ironhide lifted Spike up and leaned him against his shoulder, patting his back gently.

Spike hiccupped and then burped loudly. Thankfully, he didn’t sick up and they were able to lay him on the table again. Spike glanced at the two retreating Autobots, it made him wonder how the others would react when they saw him.

And just how was his dad going to react when he saw him?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm dying of laughter here. 
> 
> I left a comment on a story where I basically said I wasn't keen on it because of certain elements such as the over the top abuse of a character. The author got very offended and called me a B*tch among other things. I pointed out they shouldn't really post stories if they can't take comments that aren't gushing and this is how they responded. Quick note, I never once called them a name.
> 
> "Tell me, do you know that harassing people on the Internet is a crime? Perhaps, you should back off or I could slap your ass with an online restraining order oh didn't I mention I work in law enforcement? My wife never mentioned well now I will one more harassing comment and I will issue one."
> 
> Sure you do kid. Oh my, readers, I'm sure you know that this sort of speech doesn't make you a big man/woman. It makes you look an absolute child, I could not stop laughing at the absurdity of this comment. It was also rather pointless as they deleted everything and disabled comments. PrimesSPARROW7773 seems a touch sensitive and slightly obvious to the fact that what they said is far worse than anything I did. Guess I'll be issuing an online restraining order, did I mention I totally work in online law enforcement where I police the mean streets of AO3? Virtually arresting anyone with the virtual arm of the law, covering the truth in a interweb of lies. 
> 
> Lol, if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. I won't arrest you. ;)

When Optimus was summoned to the Med Bay, he knew something was up. Ratchet never called him unless it was something important or involved him personally. Apparently in this case, it was the former and he was very curious as to what it could be. It was possible Ratchet required him to give a stern lecture if one or more of their troops had done something furious, there'd certainly be a few cases like that since waking up on this organic world. 

As he approached the Med Bay, he became aware of strange sounds coming from within. He could hear laughter and was that.... _gurgling?_

“Ratchet?” he called just before he entered, he needed an explanation.

And stopped dead at the sight of his Security Officer tickling a chortling Sparkling on a examination berth. Wheeljack and Ratchet were standing nearby, looking very amused at what Ironhide was doing.

Oh yes, he _really_ needed an explanation.

“Ah, Prime, you’re here at last,” Ratchet said briskly as the Sparkling stopped giggling and stared at Optimus.

Optimus almost chuckled at the sight, the small one was sucking a fist. But now wasn’t the time for jokes.

“Ratchet, what is going on?” he asked sternly as Wheeljack suddenly looked sheepish.

His Head Medic sighed heavily and said.

“Long story short, Wheeljack’s latest invention turned Spike into Sparkling.”

It was only long yorns of experience that kept Optimus from reacting. Not to mention he was wearing a mask to hide his dropped jaw. He then gathered himself together to look rather sternly at Wheeljack.

“It wasn’t meant to do that,” the inventor protested, then seeing Optimus’s stern gaze darken, added. “There was an accident and it fell of the table and broke, otherwise, it wouldn’t have done this. I was so close to perfecting it.”

Optimus sighed heavily.

“Can you fix this Wheeljack, that’s the most important thing right now?”

“I....,” Wheeljack began uncertainly, glancing at the little Sparkling who was watching him.

“It’ll take time,” he said finally.

Optimus nodded.

“You’ll have time.”

He turned to Ratchet and Ironhide.

“In the meantime, we need to work out who’s going to look after young Spike.”

“Ah’ll do it,” Ironhide offered, rubbing Spike’s back. “Ah don’t mind looking after the little fellow.”

“That’s a kind offer Ironhide but I think we’ll need to talk to his father about this first,” Optimus said gently.

“Oh blimey, I forgot about Sparkplug,” Wheeljack said, rubbing a hand over his forehead. “What do you think he’s going to say?”

Optimus briefly thought back on the conversation he’d had with Sparkplug not long ago. About Spike growing up so fast. Though this wasn’t likely to be what he had in mind when he wished he could return to Spike’s Sparkling years.

“I’m sure he’ll understand,” Optimus said gently. “Just as long as he can have his boy back.”

“I’ll do everything I can to make it right,” Wheeljack swore, again glancing at Spike. “I’d better get to it, I don’t want my invention lying around like that.”

“Good idea,” Optimus agreed as Wheeljack quickly rushed off.

He then smiled down at Spike from behind his face mask.

“Hello Spike, do you recognise me.”

Spike mentally growled, of course he did. Unfortunately, his scowl looked like he was simply scrunching up his face, meaning Optimus thought he didn’t. The Autobot leader chuckled and patted Spike’s head.

“Never mind Spike, it’ll come.”

The Sparkling blew a raspberry at Optimus in response to this statement. They all burst out laughing at this.

“Aw, cute little guy,” Ironhide said fondly before asking. “Where is Sparkplug?”

“He went home some time ago,” Optimus said softly. “I will contact Bumblebee and ask him to bring Sparkplug round. Then I will explain what’s happened.”

He shot Ironhide a look that showed he was smiling.

“In the meantime, I’m sure there’s no reason you can’t look after him, old friend.”

“Thanks Prime,” Ironhide said with a grin as he gently lifted Spike into his arms. “Ah think ah’ll take him for a small walk if that’s okay?”

Ratchet smiled.

“There’s no medical reason why you shouldn’t. Optimus?”

“Yes, you can have a wander,” Optimus said before adding. “But I’d stay within the Ark for now, until we’ve got the details worked out.”

“Right you are,” Ironhide set off with Spike tucked firmly in his arms.

Optimus and Ratchet watched them go with small smiles.

“That old trigger finger always did like kids,” Ratchet said softly. “You know he was a big help when the twins were young? And he still takes time to help Bumblebee and Bluestreak out.”

“Indeed,” Optimus said warmly. “He’ll take good care of young Spike.”

Ratchet now looked thoughtful.

“Should we rename him, while he’s a Sparkling?” he asked and Optimus considered this before saying.

“That’s seems like a good idea, it will help everyone distinguish between the two. But we’ll have to ask Sparkplug first, we won’t if he’s totally against the idea.”

Ratchet nodded.

“I really do wonder what he’ll think.”

“So do I, old friend,” Optimus said softly, what would their human friend make of his son being turned into the transformers equivalent of a human infant? 

Meanwhile.

Spike was beeping, giggling, whistling and generally making many other Sparkling sounds as Ironhide strolled through the Ark’s corridors. Ironhide was glad for this, he hated it when Sparklings were unhappy because it made him feel so depressed. So of course, a happy one lifted his spirits.

He thought it was perhaps better that Spike couldn’t remember being a human teenager. It would make life as a Sparkling much easier. He vaguely wondered if Spike would recall being a Sparkling once he was back to normal.

Well, they’d have some stories to tell for sure and no doubt some good photos.

“Heh, just need a name for ya, little guy,” he chuckled as they walked along.

Spike looked up at this. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He wasn’t totally against it, it was just that he had a name. But perhaps it would be a good idea, otherwise when people said his name, they’d think Sparkling.

A new name would mean he could separate the experience from his normal life. And it would be kind of cool.

So he chirped happily having realised they thought he had no knowledge of being human. It seemed best to go with it, rather than wasting his breath trying to convince them otherwise.

“Thought you’d like that,” Ironhide said with a big grin.

“Hmm, let’s see. How about...Orpheus?”

Spike wasn’t sure about that one, it didn’t seem to grab his attention. So he didn’t respond to Ironhide.

“No, eh? Shame, it’s not a bad name. Now, what else could we call ya?”

 _“Don’t ask me, I can’t talk,”_ Spike thought ruefully.

“No worries,” Ironhide now said cheerfully. “We’ll think of somit.”

“Hey, Ironhide.”

Ironhide turned to see Jazz and Prowl walking over to him. His back was to them so they couldn’t see the little form in his arms. Jazz as always looked causal but surprisingly, Prowl also seemed relaxed.

“Good afternoon Ironhide,” the SIC said polity upon seeing Ironhide.

“Afternoon Prowl, Jazz,” Ironhide said with a smile, still half turned away from them.

“What ya got there, Hide?” Jazz asked with a big grin.

“A Sparkling,” Ironhide said, turning so they could see it.

Jazz’s grin became wider while Prowl raised an optics brow.

“Ironhide, where did you get him?” Prowl asked as Spike waved a fist at him.

Ironhide chuckled.

“Ya can thank Wheeljack, he’s the reason he’s here.”

Prowl expression got grimmer in a flash. Ironhide was quick to explain.

“Ya know he’d been working on a new invention?”

Both Mechs nodded.

“Well, he had a little accident and this Sparkling was the result.”

“You mean he created a Sparkling out of nothing?” Prowl said disbelievingly as Jazz chuckled.

“Nah, his gadget turned Spike into a Sparkling,” Ironhide said casually.

Prowl’s optics twitched. And then in an almost peacefully motion, he crashed to the floor. All three stared down at him and then Spike giggled.

“Oops, didn’t realise that would happen,” Ironhide said sheepishly as Spike clapped. “Ratchet’s going to kill me.”

“Nah, he’ll just throw stuff at you,” Jazz said cheerfully as he bent to make sure Prowl was okay.

“Don’t worry, this looks pretty mild, he should be up and about in no time.”

He got to his feet again, brushing dust off his knees.

“So, he got a name or are we still calling him Spike?”

“Ah think he’d be better off with a new name,” Ironhide said as Spike rested against his chest. “But ah haven’t thought of anything yet.”

“Hmm, how about Shockburst?” Jazz suggested with a wink towards Spike. “He sure gave Prowl a shock.”

“Heh, ah’ll think on it,” Ironhide said softly as he tickled Spike’s tummy making the Sparkling squeal with laughter.

“Are you going to be looking after him?” Jazz questioned as Prowl groaned on the floor.

“Hopefully,” Ironhide said. “But ah gotta talk with Sparkplug first, it’s his decision.”

Jazz nodded his understanding as Prowl sat up, rubbing his head.

“Hey Prowler, feeling better?” Jazz asked, offering a hand to his friend.

“Urgh, I think so,” Prowl groaned as he got to his feet.

His optics fell on Spike and though he gave a small shudder, didn’t crash again.

“Does Prime know about this?”

“He does,” Ironhide said with a nod. “Ah was just taking him for a walk until his father can get here.”

He held Spike out to Prowl who backed away.

“Isn’t he cute?” Ironhide asked with a grin as Spike happily dangled in his hands.

“Ironhide, you know I’m not good with Sparklings,” Prowl said sternly as Ironhide tried to get him to hold him. “We just don’t mix.”

“Aw, don’t say that, Prowler,” Jazz laughed as he carefully took Spike into his arms. “I think you’d make a great dad.”

“Thank you Jazz,” Prowl said stiffly as he suddenly incepted a comm. “Excuse me, Prime needs me,”

And with that, he turned on his heels and walked away.

“Don’t mind him,” Jazz said to Spike who was sucking his fist again. “He still remembers when the twins were Sparklings, so it’s sort of put him off.”

Spike just giggled.

“Come on young’un,” Ironhide now said. “Let’s carry on with our walk.”

And so the two Mechs set off cheerfully with a happily gurgling Sparkling. Little did they know that little Spike was about to cause an uproar.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone is doing well.
> 
> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this chapter.

When Bumblebee arrived at his house, Sparkplug had known something was up. And although he was assured by the yellow Mech that Spike hadn’t been hurt, he still knew it had something to do with his son. He had never doubted his instincts when it came to his precious offspring.

He could tell Bumblebee had no idea what had happened other than that it involved Spike and that he wasn't hurt. So he didn’t pester the Youngling for details, just calmly sat inside of him as he was driven to the Ark. There was no point in panicking until he had all the facts and more importantly, until he could see his son. 

When he arrived there, Bumblebee transformed and led Sparkplug to the Med Bay where Spike apparently was. When they arrived there, the first thing he saw was Optimus and Prowl conversing while Jazz stood to one side grinning.

They stopped when they saw Sparkplug with his escort.

“Sparkplug,” Optimus greeted, moving over and bending down. “Thank you for coming.”

“Where’s my boy?” Sparkplug asked without preamble.

There was a curious chirp from behind the large robots, causing Sparkplug to frown. Optimus now looked slightly guilty.

“Well, you see, there was an accident in Wheeljack’s lab....”

Sparkplug’s eyes seemed to bulge with horror. Optimus quickly said.

“But as you were told, he wasn’t hurt. However, he was.... _changed.”_

“Changed?” Sparkplug whispered. “How?”

Without a word, Optimus, Prowl and Jazz stood back so that Sparkplug and Bumblebee could see what was behind them. Ratchet and Ironhide were standing by an examination table, looking over at Sparkplug. And on the table was a tiny chirping transformer with turquoise optics staring right at him.

As he gaped at the sight of this small thing, Optimus said quietly.

“Spike was changed into a Sparkling Sparkplug. Or to put it another way, a transformer baby.”

The Sparkling made some funny noises as Optimus said this, sort of whistling and chirping sounds. He looked eager to see Sparkplug which was slightly disconcerting for him. His heart clenched, this was his son and he didn’t even recognise him.

“S-Spike?” he asked uncertainly and the Sparkling chirped happily at the sound of his own name.

“We don’t think he remembers being human,” Ratchet said gently. “But he probably retains a sense of loving you and recognises you as a protective figure.”

Sparkplug nodded dumbly. Unbeknownst to any of them, Spike was thinking.

_“Of course I know him, he’s my dad.”_

“Can you fix this?” Sparkplug asked, still in a state of shock.

“Hopefully, yes,” Optimus said, trying to sound certain.

Sparkplug didn’t notice this, he was slowly walking towards his son. The small Sparkling moved closer to the edge, in order to continue staring down at him. Ironhide put out a hand and gently laid it on Spike’s back, making sure he didn’t go too close.

Sparkplug dimly registered this protective act, he was still staring at Spike.

“Would you like to see him properly?” Ratchet asked kindly and Sparkplug nodded.

He was lifted up and placed on the table right in front of Spike.

“Hey kiddo,” Sparkplug said softly and Spike gave a small squeal before crawling over to Sparkplug.

“Careful there,” Ironhide warned but Sparkplug said.

“It’s okay, I can handle him.”

He smiled gently as his son, opening up his arms. Spike eagerly came closer and wrapped his arms around Sparkplug. The Transformers all moved forward at this, almost saying something but Sparkplug was okay.

Spike was undeniably stronger but his hug was still soft enough so that his dad wasn’t hurt. Though it still expelled some of the air out of his lungs, he was still able to hug Spike just as tightly back.

“Aw, Spike,” Sparkplug said softly as he rubbed the back of Spike’s head. “What kind of mess you got yourself into this time?”

Spike made a sound of indignation but only Sparkplug seemed to recognise this. Ratchet was now saying.

“We will be doing all we can to fix this but in the meantime, we need to talk about Spike’s situation.”

Sparkplug looked up at him, still hugging Spike.

“Spike will need care,” Optimus cut in softly. “I’m afraid a Sparkling is too much for a human.”

He paused to let these words sink in.

“But we wanted to talk this over with you, find out what you want for your son. And we won’t do anything without your permission Sparkplug.”

Sparkplug was touched by this. Of course, it was only right that they do this but still, considering they were large powerful robots, they didn’t have to. He nodded and said.

“Thanks Optimus, that means a lot to me.”

He glanced at the assembled Mechs before asking.

“So, who’s going to be looking after Spike?”

“Well, we haven’t quite worked that out though Ironhide has offered,” Optimus said softly as Ironhide grinned.

“But no matter who primarily looks after him, we will all be on hand to help with Spike. We’ll make sure he’s fed, kept healthy and keep him safe.”

“What about the Decepticons?” Sparkplug asked nervously.

Of course, Spike was always in danger from them but he suspected that a Sparkling would attract their attention. Meaning they would be more likely to target him. The thought made him shiver.

“Hopefully, we’ll have Spike back to normal before they find out,” Optimus said quickly. “But even if they do, we will not allow them anywhere near your son, Sparkplug.”

Sparkplug nodded again, he knew they’d do their best. But would it be enough.

“So, are you going to tell the other Autobots?”

“We’ll have to,” Prowl said, speaking for the first time. “This sort of thing can’t be kept a secret, especially if we want to treat this Sparkling right.”

At Sparkplug’s slightly confused look, he said.

“We’ll need to take him outside, for trips and to explore his homeplanet. This would be impossible to do if he was a secret.”

“Ah, gotcha,” Sparkplug said.

Spike suddenly squeaked and let go of Sparkplug, to sit back. He had a bored look about him and clearly wanted something to be happening other than all the adults talking. They all chuckled, kids could be so impatient if the attention wasn’t on them.

“I think now would be a good time to introduce the young one to the rest of the Ark,” Optimus said with a laugh as Ironhide suddenly said, somewhat nervously.

“Sparkplug, ah hope ya don’t mind but we were thinking.....it might be a good idea ta give Spike a new name.”

Sparkplug blinked at this but when he didn’t immediately protest, Ironhide continued.

“It’s just if that Cons do find out about him, it would be better if they didn’t know who he used to be.”

“Not to mention this will help us separate the Spike we all know and this little fella,” Jazz added for good measure.

Sparkplug nodded, that did make sense. Though it would be very strange not to refer to his boy by his proper name, he knew Spike, if he was able to talk, would want a new name. A cool transformer name to go with his new body, yes, that’s what he’d want.

“Alright, that’s fine with me,” he finally said and all the Mechs sighed in relief.

“So, what are you going to call him now?” Sparkplug asked curiously.

Optimus chuckled.

“We haven’t decided on that yet, I’m afraid. But I’m sure we’ll think of something soon.”

It was now that Bumblebee moved forward, seemingly in too much shock to move before now. He reached out a hand to touch Spike and the Sparkling eagerly grabbed hold of it. This made him smile.

“Hi Spike,” he said softly as the Sparkling giggled. “Told you to be careful when wandering.”

The Sparkling’s only response was another giggle.

“It’s so weird seeing him like this,” Bumblebee said, looking up at his elders. “My best buddy, a Sparkling.”

“Yeah but it won’t be for long hopefully,” Ratchet assured him before saying. “Come on, let’s get going, I think we should introduce Spike as soon as possible.”

Some time later.

The Rec Room was buzzing with chattering Mechs as they waited for their leader and officers to appear. They’d been told they had a new member who would be living with them for a while and they were very curious as to who this was.

“I heard there was an accident earlier,” Sideswipe muttered to his twin who grinned.

“Heh, probably Wheeljack, that’s nothing new.”

They shared a laugh but fell silent as Optimus suddenly appeared, his officers accompanying him. Sparkplug was being carried by Wheeljack who had a slightly guilty look about him. Everyone’s optics however was drawn to Ironhide who seemed to be holding something though they couldn’t see what it was.

“Wonder what’s up?” Hound muttered to Mirage who looked thoughtful but couldn’t answer.

Optimus cleared his throat and they all stood slightly more to attention. They all strained to hear every word he said, not wanting to miss a thing. Optimus gazed around the room for a moment, before speaking.

“As some of you may have heard, there was a slight accident in Wheeljack’s lab....”

Optimus went on to explain all that had happened and then Ironhide stepped forward to reveal the little Sparkling. Everyone gazed in awe, it had been so long since any of them had seen a Sparkling. In fact, some of them had _never_ seen a Sparkling.

“Wow, look at him.”

“He’s so small,”

“Look at those optics,”

“So cute,”

“I can’t believe this is Spike,”

“The Cons will have a fit if they find out,”

The comments hit Spike on all sides as everyone tried to crowd round and get a better look. He hid his face slightly, not liking the way they were staring at him. Like he was a sideshow for their amusement. Luckily, Optimus and the others were there to rescue him.

“Alright everyone, that’s enough,” Optimus said sternly and they all jumped back.

“Spike is not something to be gawked at,” Prowl added, glaring for good measure. “You will all treat him accordingly and you would all do well to remember he is not a toy.”

“Yeah,” Ironhide said hotly. “And if ah hear any ya’ll mistreating him....”

“Hey, hey, chill, Hide,” Sidewsipe said, holding up his hands in surrender. “Of course none of us will do anything to him, we just got a bit overexcited.”

“Alright,” Optimus said. “But keep in mind what we have said, all of you.”

He glanced at Sparkplug before saying.

“Sparkplug trusts us to look after his son, which means we are all responsible,”

He let them absorb this information before saying.

“In the meantime, we have to think about Spike’s care, now, Ironhide has volunteered to personally look after.....”

“Wait a minute,” Bumblebee suddenly spoke up.

Everyone looked at him.

“I mean, I’m sorry sir but why does it have to be Ironhide. I’d like to look after Spike, he is my best friend.”

“You’re a bit young for that...,” Prowl began but Bumblebee said hotly.

“I am not, I could easily manage.”

“Hey,” Slingshot suddenly said. “I bet we could look after him better than old Ironaft,”

“Why ya...,” Ironhide snarled but now several others were voicing the opinion that they could look after Sparkling.

It seemed they all wanted the status of being Spike’s Carer and were now all arguing about it. Some said they would be great, others agreed, others disagreed. Spike was transferred to Jazz so that Ironhide could argue better.

Prowl was reprimanding the twins, Ratchet was waving his wrench and Optimus had one palm across his face. Spike stared in horror at this while Sparkplug shook his head slowly, these guys really didn’t know kids.

 _“I’ve got to do something,”_ Spike though desperately, he couldn’t stand them arguing like this. " _But what?”_

He thought about it and then the answer came to him in a flash. He grinned slyly and then carefully took a few breaths. It didn’t matter that he didn’t need to breathe, he still did this. He then opened his mouth and.....

**_“WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHhhhhhh!”_ **

Everyone stopped talking in an instant, staring in horror as Spike bawled. He waved his little fists, his face screwed up as he howled as loudly as he could. Apart from his screaming, there was silence for a moment and then.

“Now look what you’ve done,” Ratchet said in exasperation as he scooped Spike into his arms and tried to comfort him. “You’ve all upset him with this petty bickering.”

“Ratchet’s right,” Optimus said very sternly as everyone looked sheepish. “We’re meant to be doing everything we can for Spike, his father is trusting us with this. If there is any more arguing, those Mechs will find themselves in the brig.”

“Yes Prime,” they all said very sorrowfully, they hadn’t meant for it to get out of hand like that.

“Now,” he said as Spike slowly calmed down a little though he was still hiccupping.

“We will all share in the responsibility of looking after Spike and will take turns of having him for a cycle. That sounds fair?”

“Yes, Prime,” they chorused, looking happier.

“Good,” Optimus said before turning to Sparkplug. “I’m sorry about that.”

“That’s okay, just keep him safe Prime,” Sparkplug said softly.

“We will,” Optimus replied firmly. ”You can count on that.”

Sparkplug nodded even as he looked sadly at his little son, transformed into a robot. Could things get any crazier? 


End file.
